2008 Woodie Awards
RISSC sheds light on origins of URI apparel, hosts week of events
Issue date: 12/7/07 Section: Editorial/Opinion
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12/07/07 - To the Cigar, I write to you because I, along with many other students, are deeply concerned about the conditions in the factories in which University of Rhode Island clothing is made, and because I'd like to get the word out about a week of events that will be hosted by the URI Students for Social Change. The events will be centered around rectifying what we believe the student body will consider a major issue.
Two years ago, with the cooperation of the university administration, the Students for Social Change entered URI into the Workers Rights Consortium, a program consisting of more than 150 affiliated colleges and universities. Briefly, this program provides us with transparency in the manufacture and fabrication of university licensed apparel by conducting independent investigations of the factories in which the textiles are produced, and then by issuing reports to the affiliated schools of factory conditions and transgressions of basic human rights.
With the advent of the WRC, the Students for Social Change were able to confirm that much of university apparel (such as the clothing one might buy from the university bookstore) was produced in sweatshops; factories which violate basic human rights, pay less than a living wage, subject workers to dangerous and hostile work environments, or even quell attempts to unionize workers with violence.
Given that "intellectual and ethical leadership" is a major precept in the university's mission statement, and that no such institution should endorse such base attacks on human rights, last year, the Students for Social Change presented the Designated Suppliers Program to the university Administration. In short, this program, currently composed of more than 38 colleges and universities (including the entire University of California system), would require that URI sourced its clothing from factories designated by the WRC to have met very basic standards, such as guaranteeing workers the right to a living wage, and the right to organize.
Two years ago, with the cooperation of the university administration, the Students for Social Change entered URI into the Workers Rights Consortium, a program consisting of more than 150 affiliated colleges and universities. Briefly, this program provides us with transparency in the manufacture and fabrication of university licensed apparel by conducting independent investigations of the factories in which the textiles are produced, and then by issuing reports to the affiliated schools of factory conditions and transgressions of basic human rights.
With the advent of the WRC, the Students for Social Change were able to confirm that much of university apparel (such as the clothing one might buy from the university bookstore) was produced in sweatshops; factories which violate basic human rights, pay less than a living wage, subject workers to dangerous and hostile work environments, or even quell attempts to unionize workers with violence.
Given that "intellectual and ethical leadership" is a major precept in the university's mission statement, and that no such institution should endorse such base attacks on human rights, last year, the Students for Social Change presented the Designated Suppliers Program to the university Administration. In short, this program, currently composed of more than 38 colleges and universities (including the entire University of California system), would require that URI sourced its clothing from factories designated by the WRC to have met very basic standards, such as guaranteeing workers the right to a living wage, and the right to organize.